A CO oxidizer for a fuel cell system must agitate a reformate gas including air to mix the air uniformly into the reformate gas in order to remove carbon monoxide efficiently from the reformate gas.
Known methods and devices for agitating a reformate gas including air are described below.
Tokkai 2001-2401 published by the Japanese Patent Office in 2001 discloses a CO oxidizer which has rotating wings or a fan downstream of the gas inlet section. The rotating wings are rotated as a result of reformate gas flow and agitate the reformate gas.
In Tokkai 2000-203801 published by the Japanese Patent Office in 2000, a plurality of pipes are disposed perpendicular to the gas flow in order to agitate the reformate gas. Oxygen is discharged from holes in the wall of the pipes.
In Tokkai 2001-137676 published by the Japanese Patent Office in 2001, a partition plate which impedes gas flow is disposed perpendicular to the flow of gas in order to mix air in the impeded flow of gas.
In Tokkai 2001-120973 published by the Japanese Patent Office in 2001, a plurality of plates are provided in order to agitate gas. The plates are twisted into a spiral shape and disposed along the direction of gas flow in a gas passage.